


May the Best Man Win

by gatesmasher



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst and Humor, F/M, M/M, Nudity, angry daniel, bursting into sam's bedroom, he's not pleased, pete that is, when she's in bed with pete
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 08:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1421854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatesmasher/pseuds/gatesmasher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam's left Jack for Pete Shanahan.  So where does that leave Daniel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	May the Best Man Win

**Author's Note:**

> The timeline is non-canon: somewhere around or soon after the end of Season 5, but without Meridian and with Pete Shanahan.

 

My name is Pete Shanahan and I'm the luckiest schmuck in the world. 

I flop down with a groan of satisfaction, the sweat of my back hitting the cool bed-sheet.  Beside me, Samantha Carter curls up with a satisfied groan of her own, laying a possessive hand on my chest.

Yeah, she's the reason I'm a lucky schmuck.

We lay there and pant, getting our breath back for a minute.  Then I place my hand over hers on my chest.  “Do you regret it?” I ask.

“Hmm?”

“It’s been two weeks now since you and Jack called it off.  Do you regret leaving him for me?”

“No,” she says firmly.  “We weren't happy.  _Jack_ wasn't happy, not towards the end.”  I can feel her frown as she nestles her face in the crook of my neck. 

Too stupid to shut up, I just have to ask, “What changed?”  I can’t help but ask.  The most gorgeous woman on earth leaves a bona fide war hero for _me_?  I know I should thank my lucky stars and let it go, but...even big strong cops have their moments of doubt. “How on earth could he not be happy with _you_?”

Sam thinks it over in that deliberate way of hers.  “We still love each other.  Not that way!”  She laughs at my frown.  “I admit I was worried whether we could still work together after the breakup, but today went fine.  I think he really needed those two weeks at his cabin.  We still respect each other and we’re still friends.  But when we were together, I think he missed the guys.”

“The guys?”

“Daniel and Teal’c,” she explains. 

Ah, the other half of her team.  No, I don't know exactly what their job consists of, but I know her team is important to Sam.  All highly classified, of course.  Deep space telemetry, my ass.  I take that as double-speak for eavesdropping on foreign, and probably hostile, nations; followed, at odd intervals, by ‘trips,’ which I take for military missions, presumably leaving from Peterson Air Force Base for parts unknown.  I mean, sunburns in the middle of the winter when she says she hasn't been traveling?  Right...

“The guys, huh?” I say.  “But they've been here the whole time haven't they?” 

I've haven't meet the other two, but I’ve seen the picture of the whole team on Sam’s mantle.  The four of them in their military fatigues.  Then-Captain Sammie looking relaxed and easy with the guys and the guns.  Teal’c, a big confident-looking black man with an odd tattoo-thingy on his forehead.  The ex, Colonel Jack O’Neill, grinning, his arm looped not over Sam’s shoulders, as I might have expected, but over the shoulders of the team’s fourth member, an equally grinning Daniel Jackson, the team’s long-haired and slightly-built civilian linguist.

“Yes,” she confirms, “they haven’t actually gone anywhere, but Teal’c’s almost always on base, and Daniel…”  She pauses, frowning, as if realizing for the first time: “He just doesn't come around as much anymore, not since Jack and I got together.  Jack used to be so demonstrative with him.  Always touching him.”

“Uh...touching?” I ask, delicately.

She laughs.  “Not like _that_.  Always patting him on the back and stuff.  I think Daniel looked up to him like an older brother at the beginning.  Anyway, today the Colonel said he was inviting Daniel to dinner.  Hopefully they're having a nice visit.”

“Umm, hopefully we’re having a nice visit too.”  I roll over to face her, brushing her hair back to see that beautiful face.  Which clouds over in sudden doubt.

“ _I'm_ having a nice visit,” she says tentatively.  “...Are you?”

“What?  God, yes!  How can you even ask that?”

She looks painfully shy and young.  “Men...  Some men seem to be threatened by me...”

“By your brains or your looks or your guns?”

She gives a small smile, but it’s pained.  “Maybe the first one,” she admits.

I brush her golden hair back.  “Yeah, you're smarter than a dumb cop could ever hope to be, but it doesn't matter to me.  Brains and looks aside, you're kind and generous and funny and--”

“Jack used to say I didn't have a sense of humor,” she interrupts quietly.

Her little-girl-lost look makes me gather her up and try to force my faith into her. “Aw, honey, maybe he just never really understood you.  I do.”

Sam’s gradual smile is like the sun coming out from behind storm clouds and turns my heart to mush, my brains too probably, if the undoubtedly dopey smile I return is anything to judge by.

Just then I hear a sound and the cop in me tenses up.  “Was that the front door?” I ask.

“I’m sure I locked it and only Jack and Daniel have keys--”

Without warning, the bedroom door slams open, the overhead light comes on with a vicious glare, and a man strides in. 

What the fuck…?

As Sam kneels up on the bed in alarm, pulling up a sheet for cover, I scramble to the foot of the bed, sliding off to stand.  Yeah, I may be naked but this perp picked the wrong house to burgle tonight.

The man comes to a stop a few feet from me.  He doesn’t look much like a burglar.  White guy, mid-thirties maybe, a little taller than me; no distinguishing marks; wire rimmed glasses; short hair, almost military cut; snug black jeans, neat light-blue polo shirt.  He's dressed more for a date than a felony.  I wonder if maybe he's hopped up on something, but his eyes aren't bloodshot or watery: they're as blue as they are cold, and his face is stiff with anger as he takes in the scene before him.

“Daniel...?” Sam breathes with astonishment behind me.

 _Daniel_?  This is the longhaired geek from Sam’s team picture?  No wonder I didn't recognize him.  He's filled out a little since that picture was taken.  To put it lightly.

Ignoring me as if I don’t exist, he hisses to Sam, “You bitch.”

I glance at Sam, still keeping a sharp eye on the bozo.  She pales in shock and my fists tighten.  If he’s here to challenge me for Sam’s affections, he’s picked a really crappy opening line.

“You fucking _cunt_ ,” he continues, voice growing louder.  “How could you do this?”

High color replaces the paleness on Sam’s cheeks.  I start to think less in terms of protecting her from the punk to maybe protecting him from her.

Daniel’s shouting now, his anger only growing.  “I _gave_ him to you!  And this is how you repay me?  This is what you do?  Jump in the sack with the first little prick you can find?  Were you fucking this piece of shit behind Jack’s back the whole time?!”

I’m itching to throw a punch here.  This asshole is Sam's beloved teammate of five years?  The one she thinks of as her little brother?  And just what the hell is his problem with Sam and me?  Not that it’s any of his business, but we didn’t so much as kiss until she and Jack split.

Wrapping the sheet around herself like a toga, Sam gets off the bed and walks to my side, her face as hard as Daniel’s now.  “Daniel, what are you talking about?” she asks steadily.

“I gave him up!” he shouts, accusing finger punctuating his words, practically spitting in his rage.  “I gave him to you!”

“Daniel, you're not making sense--”

“Jack!  I gave him up for you.  Because he loved you and you loved him!”

Ah…  Oh boy.  I get it now.  A love triangle all right, but not the way I thought. 

Sam gets it too if the gasp is anything to go by.  I want to slide an arm around her waist, but this lunatic is too volatile for me to lower my guard.

“Do you know what that cost me?” he asks, voice turning hoarse and plaintive.  “Do you know where I go for comfort, for _sex_?  The nameless men I bring home for quick fucks?  God!  How many faceless bodies and soulless mouths...”  He rakes shaking fingers through his hair.  “Do you know what I gave up for you?”  His voice cracks and wavers.

Hand to her mouth, Sam stands shaking her head.  “God, Daniel, I didn't know...  How could I know?”

But he’s not finished.  He straightens up, fixing her with the same deadly glare.  “And this is how you repay me?  How you repay _him_?  I wouldn't give him up for just anyone, I gave him to _you_.  Wasn't he good enough for you?  He's a goddamn hero and you dump him for this?”  He sweeps contemptuous eyes down the full length of my still very much naked body.

I force myself to hold quiet with as much dignity as I can muster.  I might not be a hero, a 'Jack O’Neill,' but by god, I can make Samantha Carter happy and that’s good enough for me.

“Daniel,” Sam says.  “It was a mutual decision to end our relationship--”

“Right,” he barks.  “You and Jack mutually decided that you should start fucking some worthless nobody.”

I grit my teeth, fighting hard to stay silent.

Sam’s getting mad again.  “Daniel, could you please sit down and listen to--”

“You two were in _love_!” he interrupts, pleading even as he shouts.  He throws an expressive arm out and begins pacing.  “I wouldn't have stepped aside for anything less.  He loved you and you dumped him.  I couldn't believe it when he told me this evening.  What the fuck did you do to him?”

“Daniel!”  This time her voice holds the crack of command I’ve never heard before.  It works enough to get the guy to stop pacing and face her again.  “What exactly did Jack tell you?” she asks.

“That you two split up.  Two weeks ago!  You left him all alone in his cabin...”  He pins her with renewed anger.  “God, all alone, while you were here whoring around like there was no tomorrow, like this piece of shit could even begin to compare to Jack O’Neill--!”

I can’t take any more.  “Okay!” I yell.  “That's it!”

I reach for his collar.  If I can get the asshole in a submissive hold, I can at least get him to the living room and give Sam time to get dressed.  Maybe even snap him in the cuffs I left there along with my clothes.  I’d love to get him down to the local station; see how much he mouths off after cooling his heels in the tank for the night.

But geek or no geek, the guy’s well-trained.  He blocks my opening, throwing a counter blow to my shoulder to put me off-balance.  I manage to partially block that, kicking out with my left foot to sweep his legs out from under him.  He counters again, stepping back out of effective range.  I’m hopelessly off-balance now and when he cocks a fist I know there’s not a damn thing I can do to oppose it.  Every ounce of anger filling him is about to visited directly to my face.  Oh well, at least the guys back at the station won't be calling me 'Baby Face' anymore.  And at least it’s me and not Sam…

Then Sam’s there, blocking and misdirecting his punch, straight-arming him, slamming him back against an armoire. 

Her sheet-toga has pooled around her ankles and she looks like a freakin’ Amazon standing there stark-naked and shaking with anger.

“This is _my_ bedroom, in _my_ home,” she states calmly and unequivocally, somehow sounding more threatening than any of the manly chest-beating Daniel or I have been doing.  “And I will not tolerate this kind of ridiculous testosterone brawling from either of you.” 

A bedroom brawl?  Most of the bedroom brawls I've been in were over women, not...uh, whatever it was that this one is over.  Not that I've been in many of course.

“Daniel.  Sit.” 

Our little tussle’s drained a lot of the anger out of him, and Daniel slouches obediently to the bed, rubbing his shoulder, an honest-to-god pout on his lips.  When he slumps heavily to the foot of the bed, Sam kneels at his feet, looking earnestly up at him.  I tense, not liking her in such a vulnerable position, but limit myself to standing guard, rubbing my own arm as unobtrusively as possible.

“Daniel,” Sam begins, “I didn't know, I honestly didn't know.  God, you're so good at hiding things...”  She shakes her head as Daniel drops his gaze.  “Let me tell you a story, about a man and a woman who were in love.”  He eyes her doubtfully, but she plows on.  “The woman thought the man was everything she’d ever wanted: handsome, strong, brave.”

I shuffle my feet.  Damn it.

“Hush, Pete,” she murmurs to me.  “And the man thought the woman was everything he was supposed to want, too: capable, loyal, um...”

“Beautiful?” I supply.

Sam gives a one-shouldered shrug as Daniel narrows his eyes at me.  “Maybe,” she concedes with a small smile.  “Anyhow, one day they confessed that they cared for each other more than they should.  That meant that they loved each other, right?”

Daniel looks defiant.  “Yes, he _loved_ you.” 

She nods solemnly.  “Yes, they loved each other.  And with their friends’ help, they were able to defy the rules and come together.  And it was wonderful, for a long time, it was perfect.”

I hold still this time.  Daniel doesn’t.  He flares up: “And you threw it all away!  Everything I did for you, everything I sacrificed!  You dumped him--!”

Sam holds up a finger and he cuts off.  “It was perfect for a time,” she restates, “but things started to go wrong.  Differences, expectations, misunderstandings.  They--we, Jack and I, we talked at cross-purposes, or we didn't talk at all.  We didn't flow together the way we should've.  He...  Somehow, he was lonely.”  She looks shrewdly at Daniel.  “He _was_ lonely, and I think now I understand.  You distanced yourself.”

Shrugging, Daniel doesn’t meet her eyes.  “I couldn't...  You two were in love and I was happy for you, really I was.  All I want for Jack is happiness.  But I couldn't...  I just couldn't be around you.”

“We were missing something,” Sam continues.  “And it only became more obvious as time went on.  Then my brother introduced Pete to Jack and me when they were in town a couple months ago.  I think Jack knew before I did.  He stepped aside.”

They both glance at me.  Love on Sam’s face, suspicion on Daniel’s. 

“And you gave him up, just like that?”

“I want children and Jack doesn't,” she states baldly.

Daniel blanches.  “But he does,” he insists.  “He deserves a second chance at fatherhood.”

“I agree, but Jack doesn't.”

“But...”  Daniel shakes his head, eyes glistening, and I have to look away, still not willing to leave her alone with him, but trying to give the man a little privacy.

“You couldn't give him a child.  Is that one of the reasons you stepped aside?” Sam asks softly.

He nods wordlessly and she cups a cheek of his downcast face. 

“Two weeks and you didn't say a word,” he whispers.

“I'm sorry.  I realize now I should've.  I thought that Jack would've called you...”

“And you left him all alone in the woods.”

“He said he needed time to think.”

“He always says that.  You know Jack.”

“Yes, I do know Jack and if he said he needed time to think, then he needed time to think.”

Daniel's struggling to hold on to his anger now, and he finally gives it up with a sigh.  “Yeah...”  He’s quiet for a moment, staring bleakly.  “I was surprised when he invited me over this evening.  After a couple weeks apart I thought you and he couldn't wait to be together again.  It was nice, though, just the two of us alone again at his place.”  A smile flickers over Daniel’s face.  “Jack and me, arguing over the TV remote, settling on a chess game, just like old times.  Then he mentioned you and--”  He gives a bitter laugh.  “I thought he was going to announce the wedding date.  I thought he was going to ask me to be his best man.  And I would've said yes, I would do anything to make Jack happy.  But he didn't say that at all, of course.  God, at first I couldn't even understand what the hell he _was_ saying: you two had broken up, you were seeing another man...  I, uh, kinda lost it, I guess.  Said I had to go do something and came over here and, uh, well, you know the rest...”  He waves weakly at Sam’s bedroom in general.

They're both silent a moment, then he says, “Um, I'm sorry I called you a bitch...  And a cunt...”

He peers at her over his glasses.  Her lips press tight. 

“Um...and a whore...”

He’s starting to smile now.  Sam’s starting to shake. 

Bastard’s making her cry. 

I clench my fist, ready to finally take the shot I should've in the first place when the sound she’s making registers on me.  Giggling.  She's giggling.  A second later she’s laughing out loud, Daniel grinning in return. 

All I can do at this point is cross my arms and roll my eyes and watch my nude girlfriend laugh with a guy who's just called her every name in the book and tried to punch me, her boyfriend mind you, out.  Oh, great, now they’re hugging.  And he's still ignoring the fact that she's naked.  I gotta tell you, it's starting to seriously freak me out.  I mean, I know they're close teammates and he obviously doesn't swing that way at the moment, but still...jeez.

Daniel buries his face in Sam’s hair.  His shoulders are shaking now, but not with laughter.  “God, Sam, I love you so much…”

Sam hugs him fiercely.  “And I love you, you stupid jerk.”

Broken voice muffled, Daniel says, “All I ever wanted was for you to be happy…”

“I am, Daniel.  Now it’s your turn.”

Aw, man.  No way.  I refuse to get misty.  Big dumb cops don’t cry.  They just look at the ceiling and blink.

Sam leans back to hold her teammate at arms length.  “Daniel, Jack had two weeks to think things over.  And then he called _you_.”

Ducking his head, Daniel pulls off his grimy glasses, rubbing at his eyes.  “No, I don't think...  It's over.  It’s too late.” 

Again she raises his face with a gentle hand on his cheek.  “It's not too late.  Go talk to him.  That's an order.”

He studies her face, confidence slowly replacing fear.  “Yes, ma'am,” he finally says. 

Despite the circumstances, I can't help but be proud of my Sam.  Compassion tempered with commonsense.  I can see the way these two teammates balance each other out--and why each would probably do anything to ensure the other's happiness.

He stands up, helping Sam to her feet.

As if we were just another nude suburban couple at a school board mixer, Sam takes me by the arm and tugs me closer.  “Daniel, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Pete Shanahan,” she says.

Daniel adjusts his glasses as if truly seeing me for the first time.  “Um, pleased to meet you, Pete,” he says, holding out a companionable hand.

About a hundred possible replies shoot through my head.  “Likewise,” I finally say, taking his hand.  He kinda grows on you, what can I say?

“So, uh, I guess I'll being going, then.”  Daniel points lamely at the door and sidles out of the room.  “Leaving you guys alone to do, uh, whatever...”  With a last little wave, he disappears down the hallway.  We stand there looking at each other as the sound of his footsteps end with the gentle closing of the front door. 

At the sound of a car engine starting, I let out a sigh.  Only for it to turn to a groan as Sam’s cell phone goes off. 

She checks the readout, gives me an impish smile and answers it.  “Colonel?  ...  Yes, sir, Daniel was just here.  ...  Oh, he just wanted to touch base with me on a few things.  ...  Um, yes, he did seem a little concerned about something.  ...  Well, why don't you just ask him when he gets there?  ...  Yes, he's going back to your place.  ...  Yes, sir, he shouldn't be long.  ...  Goodnight to you, too.”  She pauses.  “And, um, Jack?”  She looks down, and when she looks up at me again her eyes are shining.  “I wish you all the happiness in the world.”  She closes the phone, puts it down and holds her hand out to me.

“Finally…” I sigh.

We snuggle back down under the blankets and I hold her as tight as I dare, kissing her soft hair.

She relaxes into my embrace, kissing softly at the hollow of my throat.  Then she pauses a moment and whispers pensively, “Jack and Daniel...”

I think about it a minute too.  “Do you think there'll be touching?” I finally ask.

“Yes,” she allows with a grin.

“Inappropriate touching?”

She laughs. 

Oh yeah, that's the ticket.  Brainy, beautiful, and in love.  With me.  And in my arms.

I only hope that Jack and Daniel will find this for themselves.

“Oh, yes,” she says firmly.  “Lots and lots of inappropriate touching.”

-end-  



End file.
